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The Five Keys to Business Influence

Personal success is always closely connected to how much influence we wield over people around us. The most influential people are typically the most successful – but why? It’s because these people are heard, they are respected, followed and always remembered.

So, the more influence you can muster – the more successful you will become.

Fortunately – there are five types of influence that you can use when you communicate with others. The method you choose is nearly always connected to your own character and personality. However – relying on what makes you feel comfortable might be your lost opportunity.

These five methods are easy to remember as they spell out the word BRAIN

Bridging, Rationalizing, Asserting, Inspiring and Negotiating.

When people seek to influence, they typically use one or more of these different styles or keys.

Bridging is for the very social type of person.

It’s all about who you know. It’s a key to influence that is reliant on your connections and your wide network. The science is easy – you know Dave, I know Dave, Dave does business with me therefore you should do business with me – we have bridged a trusted connection and created influence.

Rationalizing is for the Intellects.

When we rationalize, all we do is ensure that our target sees how much sense our idea makes. “You don’t need me to to tell you that buying our service will make your life easier, your business more profitable and free up your people’s time – it makes so much sense. Rationally speaking, it’s a no-brainer.” Influence is the result of simply making people see what they already knew – that one plus one truly does make two!

Asserting the language of the strong and the bold!

Sometimes, you have to get tough. You have to assert yourself. “Right team, It’s the end of the quarter, we need the numbers. Make me proud. Let’s go!” These strong-arm tactics do create a wave of short-lived influence. By injecting some urgency people often feel like they have no alternative but to comply. However if you continually try to assert yourself, people become used to it and your power eventually ‘declines’.

Inspire – The more creative types always reach for the Inspire card.

They develop influence by drawing an image of how good life can be with their product or service. They do the dreaming for you and make you realize that they should be followed because they just make everything sound so good!! “Imagine – a fleet of vehicles you can trust, suddenly you can sit back and breathe easy – your business will be in safe hands on the road”. Ahhh!

And finally – something we all do – Negotiate

Its time to make a deal. You give me this, I’ll give you that – you take this extra service, I will ensure you receive a timely discount – let’s agree to agree.

Of course – to be truly influential, when you communicate, using just one or two of these techniques is rarely enough.

In fact to be a true influencer – you must use your entire BRAIN! Deploy all five of these keys – Bridge, Rationalize, Assert, Inspire and Negotiate.

A great way to see these five keys in action right now is to watch any of the grand-standing speeches given by our leading politicians –

Sometimes, they will attempt to inspire you with a golden view of what the future may look like if only you vote for them.

Sometimes, they will just make a rational case that makes so much sense that it wins your vote!